How to fill your heart with joy

 

Over the years I have been involved in many ministries that have been spiritually rewarding for me. Two, in particular are ministering to the elderly in nursing homes and ministering to those in prison.

I’d like to share a beautiful story about the blessings I received from visiting those in prison.

 My first experience inside a prison frightened me to death. And it continued to so even for quite some time. As soon as I heard, and felt those huge iron doors slam close behind me, I was intimidated. But I never let it known.

 But as I look back, there were so many wonderful heartfelt stories that made every visit for me a gift from God, as I knew God was there among us, and in the heart of each prisoner in that room. Those I ministered to wanted God desperately.

I remember George, a prisoner, who for eight months sat in the back of the room when I conducted a Communion Service at that prison. Always with his head down, staring at the floor.

 When it was time to receive the Blessed Sacrament, he would remain in his seat with his chin on his chest, shaking his head from side to side reflecting on where he went wrong.

The other inmates in that room were compassionate and told me they knew George was hurting deep inside.

One Wednesday, a priest came to hear confessions prior to the Communion Service and George hurried in first.  A transformation was evident for immediately after his confession George sat in the front row, not in his customary back seat in the room.

Yes, there was a change in George, a beautiful change. When it came time to receive the Blessed Sacrament, George came up first and there were tears in his eyes as he received our Lord for the first time in eight months.

But he walked to his regular seat in the back and, like a child knowing he is loved by the Father, allowed the tears to flow. “Jesus”, he said, “stay with me”. The other inmates bowed their heads and were filling up as well.

The prison ministry, like any other ministry, has its own rewards, and I have come to realize that through our hands, our words, our shoulder, we are placing Jesus right there in the middle. “Where two or three gather in my name I am with you”.

 There is without a doubt, that inner peace in the joy of serving God through others. I’m sure anyone who does so, can relate and hold deep in their hearts some cherished memories.

 Yes, I was frightened to death on my first visit to the prison and not everyone would be comfortable in that environment. But, there are many other ways we can still help those in prison, or feel like they are in a prison.

 I like to think that every visit I make, whether it be to a nursing home, a prison, a hospital or to a home bound person, there is another George to be found, who will fill my heart with joy.

What is a devout Catholic

 

“Those who preach the Gospel should live by the Gospel” (1Cor 9:14). And who is it that preaches the Gospel. There are those who preach by word, and must live by those words, while others preach from their heart, by their actions and how they live their lives.

 A devout Christian, a devout Catholic believes in every word, on every page in every Book of the bible and is not ashamed of those words. Those words become a person’s character, their principles and values and they let no one tell them differently.

 They truly know Jesus and defend Him wherever they may be, keeping deep in their heart every commandment written in Scripture. It is this very devout person who speaks up for their beliefs, for they believe in every word Jesus has spoken.

 And Jesus said life is so precious, “I have come so you may have life and have it more abundantly”. It is the devout Christian, the devout Catholic who defends that very life, because it is a commandment from God Himself.

 What happens when a person, calling themselves devout, promotes, sponsors, prioritizes, or even approves in the murder of unborn Children, breaking the very commandment of “Thou shall not kill”?

 John in 1jn 2:4 has a word for them. “If anyone says, I know Him, but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him”.

 We pray, dear Lord that you change the minds of the stubborn, the weak of faith, the callous, the liars and save our children from murder. Amen

 

Love and forgiveness

 

Two words that are stressed in almost every Book of the bible, that if followed, can lead us to eternal happiness, are difficult to put into play. Two words that are powerful, words that when become a part of our lives can be world changers.

 Yes, it takes courage, persistence and and the help of Almighty God to live out these two words. Love and Forgiveness!

 There is a beautiful Gospel reading about how many times we must forgive, regardless of the hurt.  As a matter of fact, it is so powerful for us to be able to forgive that Jesus tells us in the prayer that he taught us, the Our Father. Forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors. If we don’t forgive, we are not forgiven, and to find our place in heaven we must be forgiven.

 Love is the glue that binds forgiveness. Or is it forgiveness that stirs up God’s love in our soul and radiates that love to our neighbor. Today we celebrate the feast of St. Theresa, the Little Flower, a saint, a Doctor of the Church, who was both love and forgiveness personified.

 Her words are so beautiful, so heartwarming, so full of truth and wisdom. “Love” she says, “I will be love and thus I will be love to all things”.

 

Love and Forgiveness! Two words that could change the world. Maybe not in our time, but if we were to set our minds on practicing these two beautiful words, then maybe we truly could say, someday the world will be a better place. With love and forgiveness the world could be heaven on earth

 

 

The story of Tinsel

 

Most of us at sometime or another have decorated a green pine tree for Christmas, with lights, a star at the top and hanging ornaments on the branches. And some still put tinsel which look so much like icicles

There is a story about the origin of tinsel.

This tradition is about the tale of the Christmas spider, which led to the reason for tinsel at Christmas.

The story is that a woman immaculately cleaned her house for Christmas. All the house spiders were swept to the corners of the house with nowhere to go. And the woman put up her bare tree with on decorations

The spiders learned there was a beautiful Christmas tree in the room and wanted to take a closer look. The spiders saw it, loved it so much, and danced all over it. All the spiders left their webs behind, covering the whole tree.

Then the Baby Jesus saw the beautiful webs and miraculously transformed them into silver and gold tinsel so the woman who worked so hard to clean her house would be filled with joy

In honor of that story or tale, people hang tinsel of silver and gold on their Christmas trees. Whether it’s true or not, I don’t know, but we do know that every decoration we hang, every Christmas carol we sing, every candy cane we give away, should lead us to that stable where we find the our new born Savior.

Make this Christmas a truly "Merry Christmas, but most importantly a Blessed Christmas" by giving Jesus, a heart that gives and prays for all those who don’t have what you have.

And to all a Merry Christmas

 

The Invitation

 

Three words that, for me, can sum up the season of advent. Invite, prepare and celebrate. Most of us are very familiar with the preparation aspect of Advent.

 Preparing for what is to come. Preparing for His arrival, or His birthday party, or His second coming, or maybe most importantly, preparing for our own personal meeting with our Lord.

 But there is also an invitation sent by God to all us. We are like those shepherds in the fields on Christmas morning, and the angel appears and announces to us the good news.

 The Messiah, our Lord and Savior has been born, then inviting them to go and welcome the one lying in a manger.

 And the shepherds, in all their excitement, responded and said yes to the glorious invitation, and found the new born Infant with Mary and Joseph. They celebrated in amazement and told all the world.

 It all begins with the invitation.  And Jesus with all his love for us gives us so many invitations throughout Scripture. “Come to me and rest awhile, those who labor.

 “Follow me”, he tells his us and “take up your cross”. It is those who follow him he rewards with the gift of eternal life. He has invited us all to His banquet table, and to those who are prepared, to a feast fit for a king. And to a meal especially prepared by himself.  

 We are all familiar with invitations in everyday life. They may be in the form of requests, appeals, or even demands. But what we may not be aware of are the many invitations from God himself, whispering to us, wanting to be with us, and inviting us to be with him.  

 To Zacchaeus, high up in a sycamore tree, Jesus, said, “Zacchaeus, come down, I want to dine with you”, if you will have me as your guest.

 Most invitations usually require some type of a response, an RSVP.  We either go or we don’t go, we’ll do it or we won’t do it. Yes or no.

 We have all heard the story of Peter, walking on water. Peter, who is not simply the leader of the apostles, but one who best represents every man and woman who ever lived. He is us

 As the story goes, on that day in the boat, the wind is tremendous, and the sudden and violent storm had the disciples struggling to stay afloat.  They were scared for their life.  

 And things get worse. They could see a figure approaching them, walking on the water.  People don’t walk on water, if not a person, then it must be a ghost and they cried out in absolute fear. And in this outburst, they hear a voice coming from the figure approaching them, “Do not be afraid, it is I. 

 As in life, Jesus does not leave us in hopeless terror, but speaks encouraging words in a recognizable voice, if only we would listen to his invitation. “It is I, do not be afraid”, “I am with you”.

 Peter with courage and trusts responds and says, “If it is you Lord, command me to come”.  The RSVP

 Yes, he walked on water. But, even when his faith faltered and he began to sink, it was still to Jesus that he cried out for help, “Lord save me”.

The wonderful thing about Peter is that every time he fell, he rose again; and that even his failures brought him closer and closer to Jesus. 

 Every time we call on Jesus, he is already coming toward us. Every time we invite Jesus to our crisis, we are actually RSVPing to his prior invitation

 Day after day we are confronted with situations that put our faith in Jesus to the test. The current circumstances in the world and in the Church may cause us to be depressed, or at least bewildered.

 At times like these our faith may falter; we can doubt that God cares for us. We may even shout, “Where are you God, have you forgotten me”. 

Yet, it is these very moments, these very situations that our faith can be strengthened by calling out to Jesus.

 Jesus is our strength. Even though we may not recognize Him, he is there in the midst of our chaos; there when we need him most – in the storms of our lives.

 Jesus has sent you an invitation, every morning you wake up is an invitation to prepare a place in your heart for him.  This very day he whispers to you these beautiful words, “It is I, do not be afraid”.

 In your very hands is His invitation, it says “come and follow me”. Take a moment today and RSVP Jesus in a prayer.  Let Him know you’re coming. Let Him know you want to join him in his celebration.

 

 

Is that really what God said

 

 “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words to eternal life”. They are words of wisdom from Peter. We listen to God’s word and God’s word only. We listen to people who preach the true Word of God, not a sugarcoated version or modified to fulfill a worldwide agenda.

 We strive always to be better Christians, regardless of where we find ourselves.  We strive always to please God.  We strive always to live a life that follows the true and powerful Word of God. “It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail”. His Word and only His Word is life.

 We are told that only if we eat and drink what he offers will we have eternal life. His Word is the saving Word.

 There are so called leaders separating many away from the True Word of God by false teachings, contradicting Scripture and doctrine.  Jesus says, “Do you also want to leave”? But we are strong, we are the Peter’s of this age. We believe and are convinced that Jesus is the Holy One from God. His Word is the true Word.

 Scripture cannot be changed, cannot be slanted. We read in Psalms, “The sum of Your word is truth, And, every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.”

 We need more Peter’s, announcing with courage that only Jesus has the true words for eternal life. And it is only Jesus who can make that claim.

 Pray always for guidance, reflect often on Scripture and follow only the true Word of God.

 

 

By far the best food

Ever since the gates to the Garden of Eden were closed to Adam and Eve, we have been on a journey. A journey we hope will bring us to a new garden, a garden of rich foods and choice wines where we are all seated at that table of plenty.

 And for our journey, God has invited us to his earthly banquet of heavenly food as nourishment for our travels. It truly is a real Banquet, a true gift from God.  God is inviting us in the Eucharist to His table, to share in the banquet He prepared for his Son.

 An exceptional gift for those who are prepared. A gift that every saint before us ate, was feed and yet, wanted more.  With deep reflection, often times in ecstasy, they understood this was their personal encounter with Jesus, the one who has emptied himself for us. They were called to the table of plenty and were fed.

 And today, God is calling us to this same feast, to the banquet at the altar of his Son. So many are invited, but so few come, and those that do, how many are truly prepared to receive the ultimate God given gift?

 For us, receiving Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament can and should bring joy, joy so deep it is indescribable. Receiving Jesus with a heart dressed in the white garment for a wedding feast, with righteousness and holiness, can bring tears, real tears of joy, for a gift we can’t explain from an amazing God

 On death beds or after serious repentance, many times brings to a person the true meaning of receiving the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus?  But why? Why does it sometimes take a severe affliction to our lives to understand how much Jesus loves us?

 Marie, who recently passed away was in a nursing home.  For weeks she couldn’t receive the Blessed Sacrament because of physical reasons, but when we visited her, she would whisper and pray so hard and beg us to allow her to receive Jesus, her closest friend. She cried for Jesus.

 One time we walked into her room and Marie was asleep and as we walked over to the other resident in the room we began to recite the Our Father with that woman, and Marie who with eyes closed, had her hands folded in prayer, lip-syncing the Our Father, squeezing so hard her knuckles were white.

 Tears of joy and yet, tears of loss, flowing down her cheeks. She couldn’t physically receive the Blessed Sacrament, but she prepared and brought herself to the table of the Lord. Her heart was dressed in the white garment for this feast.

 There was Jose, a patient in the hospital who didn’t speak English and I didn’t speak Spanish, a farm hand recovering from an accident. I thought he would understand when I said “do you want to receive Communion, Jesus.

 I could tell he didn’t know what I was saying. I showed him my pyx, but still I wasn’t getting through.  I opened the pyx and held up the host, the blessed Sacrament in front of him.  He knew then, his eyes filled up and he cried and said sobbing, si, si. Yes, He understood, he understood that this was a feast, God the Father’s gift, and he was prepared to join Jesus at his table. He needed Jesus.

 When we receive God’s Gift of Jesus today, we may not shed the tears of joy like Marie and Jose. But, it’s OK if we do.  But in your heart welcome Jesus as a friend, a helper, a brother, the Son of our amazing God. Our food for the journey

 Receive Jesus, knowing that it is Jesus and the greatest Gift the world has ever known, a gift from God the Father to those who are prepared to receive Him.

 Yes, the rich foods and choice wines are on the table. We pray God someday will call us to that heavenly table, the new Eden.

 And, what a wonderful celebration it would be like Marie, like Jose in the hospital, if we put on our spiritual white garment, prepared and come to the feast to receive Jesus today. Make it special today. With joy and thanksgiving receive Jesus with a heart full of love. And, yes, tears may flow, for He has emptied himself just for you. He has nothing more to give. What a gift - What a God.